Old Saint Paul's is an historic church of the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church (; ) is a Christian denomination in Scotland. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. It is also an Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, ecclesiastical provi ...

in the heart of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is one of the original congregations of the

, part of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

, which evolved with the adoption of Presbyterian governance by the established

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

. Its congregation originally formed a breakaway group from the city's Saint Giles' Cathedral.

History

Although the present building dates from the 19th century, Old Saint Paul's has a history going back 300 years to the beginning of the

. The original congregation of Old Saint Paul's was a breakaway group from Saint Giles' Cathedral, which had become the Cathedral of Edinburgh in 1634. The last bishop at Saint Giles', Alexander Rose, left the Cathedral in 1689 accompanied by much of his congregation. He founded a new place of worship in an old wool store in Carrubber's Close – this lies close to the present site of Old Saint Paul's. Many Episcopalians remained pro- Jacobite during the

Jacobite rising of 1689 The Jacobite rising of 1689 was a conflict fought primarily in the Scottish Highlands, whose objective was to put James II of England, James VII back on the throne, following his deposition by the November 1688 Glorious Revolution. Named after ...

, loyal to

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and his descendants. Members of Saint Paul's were involved in the Jacobite struggle, including the Risings of

1715 Events For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire in ...

and

1745 Events January–March * January 7 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Austrian Army, under the command of Field Marshal Károly József Batthyány, makes a surprise attack at Amberg and the winter quarters of the Bav ...

. One member of the congregation brought the news of Bonnie Prince Charlie's victory at

Prestonpans Prestonpans ( , Scots: ''The Pans'') is a mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the council area of East Lothian. The population as of is . It is near the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans (first ...

to Edinburgh, shutting the town gates against the defeated Hanoverian army. As a result of the Risings, Episcopalians and their places of worship were persecuted under law. It was only after the death of Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) in 1788 that the association of Episcopalians with Jacobitism was shaken off. Penal laws were gradually repealed, and in that year the Scottish Synod resolved that

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

would be prayed for in all Episcopal Churches. During the 1820s, overcrowding at St Paul's led to the founding of a new church in Broughton Place. This congregation later moved to the

Inverleith Inverleith (Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Lìte'') is an inner suburb in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. Its neighbours include Trinity, Edinburgh, Trinity to the north a ...

area, and

St James, Goldenacre St James, Goldenacre is a Scottish Episcopal church in the Goldenacre area of Edinburgh. It was designed by Robert Rowand Anderson and opened in 1888. It is a Category B listed building and is noted for its interior decoration, including work by ...

was opened there in 1888.

Building

The present building was designed by Hay and Henderson in the Early English style at a cost of £3500, and was completed in 1883. Hay had been a pupil of Sir Gilbert Scott (architect of Saint Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in the West End of Edinburgh). Two subsequent

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

extensions have trebled the building's original length, and the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

floor has been raised and laid with marble. The high

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

is made of carved oak in neo-Norman style with grape vine decoration, surmounted with a slab of porphyry. Seven lamps represent the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

is in gilded oak, and was designed by Hay & Henderson in 1896. The lancet windows depict the

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

, with

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

and

Saint Columba Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Gaelic Ireland, Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the ...

on either side. The roof of the nave is a hammer beam structure with wooden

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...

s. The pulpit is made of carved oak, with figures of saints, and was built in 1892. A memorial chapel (warriors Chapel) was built in 1926 as a memorial to the lives lost in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, designed by Sir Matthew Ochterlony. This was organised by the then Rector, Canon Albert Ernest Laurie (1866–1937). It contains rolls of honour from both

World Wars A world war is an international conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I (19 ...

. This chapel also contains the Martyrs' Cross, a small iron cross that originally hung in the

Grassmarket The Grassmarket is a historic market square, market place, street and event space in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In relation to the rest of the city it lies in a hollow, well below surrounding ground levels. Locati ...

opposite the gallows, and was the last object seen by condemned criminals before execution. The chapel ordinarily houses a painting by Alison Watt, a Scottish artist.

Sculpture

At the head of the Calvary Stair is a sculpture of the Crucifixion by Alfred Frank Hardiman completed in 1926. Hardiman calvary 1926

The Organ

The present organ was built by Father Henry Willis and installed in 1888. Slight modifications were made to this instrument in 1936; it was electrified and enlarged in 1960 when a new

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with tab stops was provided. Further tonal modifications and additions were made in 1968.

The Church Hall

Beneath the Church is a sizeable hall. During the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

, the hall is transformed into theSpace @ Venue 45 by venue operators theSpaceUK.

List of Incumbents

References

Works cited

* * *

External links

Old Saint Paul's

theSpace @ Venue 45
{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Paul's, Edinburgh, Saint Anglo-Catholic church buildings in Scotland Christianity in Edinburgh Episcopal church buildings in Edinburgh Listed churches in Edinburgh Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh Old Town, Edinburgh